I sat on the top turnbuckle, Jerry Lawler was stood outside the ring, Adam was laid on the floor of the ring looking up at me, I shook nervously terrified of landing wrong and hurting myself, or worse Adam.
"Let's just try the jump landing next to Adam, get yourself confident up there then we can try the move" Jerry said writing notes.
"Ok" I said standing up, my legs shook as my nerves got the better of me, I sat back down.
"Jay?" Adam said "Don't be nervous…the more nervous you are the more likely you are to make a mistake, you won't hurt me…I've been doing this far too long" He smiled up at me, I nodded standing back up to make the jump. I landed inches from Adam laid on the matt, he wiggled his eyebrows making me laugh "Nearly" He joked rubbing his arm "Again" He winked, I did as I was told and repeated it a few more times each time feeling as little more comfortable than the last.
"Now try the move" Jerry said taking notes "Do you remember how we said to do it?" He asked, I did remember how he and Adam had demonstrated it but shakily I shook my head too nervous to try without being shown one more time.
"Adam, can you show me one more time?" I asked chewing my lip, he jumped up and got on to the top turnbuckle.
"Lay down where I was" He smirked. I did as I was told looking up at him watching every move, he stood up gaining his balance before leap frogging off and landing with his body across me "Then you can go straight for the pin lifting the leg" He said putting his arm under my thigh "Got it?" He asked standing up.
"Yeah I think so" I said climbing the turnbuckle, I jumped off as Adam had shown me.
"She's a quick learner" Jerry nodded impressed as I stood up a sense of pride washing over me.
"I told you she was good" Adam stood up next to me "Why don't we try something else?" He grinned, I looked at him with concern as I could see his mind ticking over with ideas.
"What?" I asked.
"I want you to get on my shoulders and flip off" He explained "It's a great counter move" He added. I took a step back in complete shock, we hadn't tried anything like this before, we had only just started on some moves in the air.
"No way" I shook my head.
"Come on" He nudged my arm as he got to his knees for me to get on his shoulders. Reluctantly I put a leg either side of his head, he put his hands on my thighs to keep me on whilst he stood up straight, I held my arms out to steady myself as he did.
"Now throw yourself forward" He said.
"Adam…" I began to protest as his hands moved from my thighs and travelled up to my hips.
"Just throw yourself forward and bring your hips up…I can do the rest" He said, I took one deep breath and did as he said throwing myself forward, as I did he did the same and we both landed on our backs.
"You ok?" He asked.
"Yeah, you?" I responded sitting up.
"Jayme if you want this you could be really good with how quickly you're picking these things up" Jerry told me matter-of-factly. I stood up grabbing my bottle of water from the side of the ring.
"She's alright" Adam replied poking my side in jest as he also drank some water, I moved to one side quickly to stop him touching me and squirted some water from my bottle at him. In response Adam put me in a headlock and poured some water over me as I struggled to break free. I dug my elbow into his stomach as he jumped back with a grunt, we continued grappling for a moment until Adam got the better of me by picking me up by the hips and putting me on his shoulders. I repeated the move we had just practiced in response.
"You guys need to work together on screen" Jerry muttered "The chemistry is off the charts" He announced, I sat awkwardly in the middle of the ring and looked over to Adam sat next to me silently.
"No" I shook my head "I don't think that's a good idea" I argued.
"Jay…They don't care what we think is a good idea" Adam replied.
"When Vince sees you two there's no way, he will keep this chemistry off screen" Jerry proclaimed as he pulled his phone from his pocket "I'll call him now" He said excitedly walking away.
"Sorry" I muttered standing up to leave the ring.
"Jay" Adam jumped up grabbing my arm to spin me round "I want to work with you" He admitted with that smile that would make me go weak at the knees "I just don't want to antagonise Beth any more than I already have"
"Yeah…I got the feeling she's not my biggest fan" I said with a small awkward laugh.
"She'll come round" He nudged my arm playfully "Now let's get some food I'm starving" He said rubbing his perfectly formed torso, I shook my head to get the image of me running my hands all over it out of my head.
"Great idea" I groaned as if I was starved.
"Last one outside pays" He laughed picking me up, putting me on the top turnbuckle, diving out the ring and sprinting back to the changing rooms with a childlike laugh. I jumped down and raced to get changed as quickly as possible.
"Too slow" I laughed as Adam appeared from inside the gym.
"HOW?" He exclaimed in complete shock at how quick I had changed.
"Gavin didn't like me taking too long to get ready…I learned to be quick" I shrugged, a smug look on my face.
"Ass" He mumbled.
"Me or Gavin?" I quipped.
"Both" He laughed loudly getting into the drivers' side of his rental car "Get in…I'm wasting away" He joked leaning over to open the passenger side. After driving for a few minutes Adam pulled into a carpark and got out the car telling me to wait for him.
"If you want to be a wrestler you need to stay healthy" He said handing me a salad, I looked down at the food in front of me in disgust.
"Great" I huffed taking a bite "I prefer my salad in a bun" I told him "With a burger in it" I added earning a laugh from Adam.
"Burgers are great but we need you to eat and train well so you can do this job, it's not like your office job" He said seriously "You'll be in that ring for long periods of time and the last thing you want is to run out of steam" He explained, I knew he was right so I reluctantly continued eating without another argument. "So…" He grinned "How are you feeling about this now?"
"I'm glad I came" I nodded between mouthfuls "I didn't feel totally comfortable with the idea before this weekend but after meeting some of the people I'm feeling a little more comfortable" I explained.
"Good" He nodded "Now, what do you say I take you to the arena to show you how it's set up, I have some meetings to attend anyway that I think would be good for you to sit in on"
"Am I allowed?" I asked.
"Yeah" He shrugged "Just come…they won't turn you away once you're they're with me" He said it as if it was nothing.
"Shouldn't you spend some time with Beth?" I asked "She didn't look too happy when I showed up the yesterday" I pointed out.
"I'm taking her out tonight she'll have to get used to seeing us together if Vince wants us to work together on TV…. Vince gets what he wants whether the talent agree to it or not" He justified.
"That doesn't seem very fair" I replied irritated.
"It's business" He shrugged "That's how I ended up doing a live sex show in the middle of the ring with a girlfriend…Neither of us wanted it but Vince had decided it was a great idea and that was that…it happened and it's gone down in history"
"What?" I snorted "Why?" tears from laughing began streaming down my face.
"Yeah" He nodded "It's not something that would ever happen again because we just aren't in that era anymore but at the time my character Edge was supposed to deliver that shock factor" I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing and how non-chalant Adam was about the whole thing "I was known as the Rated R Superstar".
"You're so calm about it" I told him finishing my salad and putting the rubbish on the dashboard.
"Believe me I wasn't at the time and neither was my girlfriend but what could we do?" I felt sorry for Adam "It wasn't that bad" He affirmed "I was more worried about the whole world seeing my junk" He laughed.
"I guess that would be a big concern" I thought out loud.
"Very big" He smiled suggestively lifting an eyebrow, I burst in to fits of laughter holding my sides. "Way to hurt a man's ego" He said feigning upset "Come on let's go I'll show you the arena" with that he reversed the car out of the space and made his way out of the carpark.
"Hey Adam" Randy called over as we both got out the car "And Jay…" He chuckled "What a surprise" He rolled his eyes dramatically.
"Hey Randy" I smiled.
"She's come to see how things work man" Adam rolled his eyes in return as he walked straight past his friend.
"Great, well Vince wants to see you asap dude" He called back to Adam. I shrugged and waved a quick bye to Randy as I followed Adam into the arena.
"You ok?" I asked following one step behind the whole time.
"Yeah" He replied stopping so I could catch up "I just don't want people making those kind of comments" I half smiled and nodded.
"Yeah Beth's not going to like it" I replied awkwardly.
"No" He grabbed my face "This place…" He looked around "It can be intense but it can be the best workplace in the world" He looked deep in to my eyes, and not for the first time our faces were inches apart "It can be like a playground some day's and I don't want that to get to you and hurt you" I steadied my breathing so that it wasn't as obvious what his close proximity to me was doing.
"Adam I'll be fine" I told him wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him in for a hug "I have you" I whispered tightening my grip.
"Always" He responded before pulling away and we made our way through the arena and to Vince's office.
I sat silently feeling awkward as Vince and Adam discussed ideas for his return, Vince had said no more than a quick hello to me before embracing Adam and greeting him as an old friend. The two spoke animatedly about what a return for 'Edge' could mean and how to make the most of it as no fan was expecting it at all. Vince wanted him to come back and challenge for the WWE championship but Adam wanted to make way or younger talent in the business, I could see what he meant before when he had said when Vince wants something to happen that it will no matter what. After almost an hour of the two talking and coming to an agreement Vince finally turned to me, his gaze was powerful and his mere presence commanded respect from those in the room.
"And Jay I've heard great things about you" He said matter-of-factly pulling me out of the trance I had been in whilst listening to every word "A storyline with Adam would be a great way for you to start your career with us" I listened to the words slowly nodding my head.
"Do we not think Beth should have a say in this?" I asked looking between the two, Adam shifted awkwardly in his seat knowing I was right.
"She has no choice" Vince replied leaving no room for argument.
"Wouldn't Beth and Adam be better off in a storyline together seeing as they're engaged" I argued.
"From what I heard about you two" Vince pointed at us both "The sexual tension is on a whole new level and it's going to be great for the camera" I sat awkwardly playing with my hair, Adam again shifted in his seat. "Is there something I should know?" Vince asked looking between us both.
"No" We both shaking our heads like naughty school children.
"Ok, then it's done Edge will return a week on Monday and when Jayme makes her debut in the Janurary we will start the storyline between you both"
"Wait…I'm going to be on TV next month?" I asked the wind suddenly taken out of whole body.
"You'll be fine Adam will work with you until January and we wont have you wrestling for a couple of weeks you'll just accompany Adam to the ring all the while training with some of the Divas to make sure you're ready when you take on your first match" Vince explained "I'm thinking we will build you up as the next up and coming star that Edge has been training and you wrestle for the first time the royal rumble pay-per-view, let's throw everything at this and really excite the crowd we will get you in the women's royal rumble and really assert you as a main player amongst the Divas, we need to shake things up in that division" the wind was taken from me again as I sat up straight.
"You've got to be kidding" I shook my head "Before I met Adam, I hadn't watched wrestling in years never mind wanting a career in the WWE I've only ever wrestled Adam, I haven't even had a real match" I pleaded for Vince to slow down "I've only just come to love doing this"
"Hey, calm down" Adam jumped from his seat and knelt in front of me pulling my head to his, our foreheads together "You're going to be fine babe, I'll be with you the whole time, I promise if you just step out of your comfort zone it'll be fine" he smiled at me, a smile that always calmed me down and made me feel safe.
"Ok" I sighed looking into his eyes.
"She'll be fine Vince" Adam said turning to face him again "She's got more than enough talent to do this."
"I don't doubt it" Vince said turning to his computer to begin typing "Jayme I have your contract here for you to look over, have Adam bring it back next week once you have read and signed it" He added handing me a set of papers, I quickly thanked him and left with Adam following closely behind.
"Hey…hey" He chased me down as I charged down the hallway "You're gonna be fine" He reassured me pulling me in to a hug.
"This is a lot to take in Adam" I gasped taking a step away from him "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here and that's all people will see" I explained "And the fact he wants to give me such a big storyline will only make that worse" I added.
"Vince wouldn't do this if he didn't think you had the talent, this company is like his baby, and he wouldn't do anything to screw it up" I bit my bottom lip and took a few deep breaths to calm myself, Adam ran his hands through his hair and chuckled in response taking my chin between his thumb and index finger pulling my bottom lip from between my teeth "This needs to stop" He smirked.
"Engaged" I snapped raising one eyebrow pushing his hand away.
"Come on I want to show you something" He said ignoring my statement and guiding me through the arena, I followed without argument. Eventually We went through a curtain taking us out to where the ring had been set up in front of thousands of empty seats that no doubt in 24 hours would be full.
"That's a lot of seats" I said as we walked down the ramp and climbed into the ring together.
"You don't notice it when you're in the middle of it the adrenaline takes over and before you know it, you're back through that curtain, I can't quite explain the feeling of being in the middle of this ring when every single one of those seats is filled" He smiled looking round at the empty arena, I smiled at the look on his face, it was one I had never seen from him before as he soaked in every second of what was happening for him "I never thought this would happen for me again" He whispered "I can't believe in a week I'll be walking down that ramp again to wrestle for the first time in over 10 years."
"I'm so happy for you" I smiled rubbing his shoulder gently.
"I'm glad I get to do this with you" He admitted putting an arm around me.
"Me to" I smiled up at him "I just want to take this in for a minute" I smiled sitting on the matt, Adam sat himself next to me taking my hand in his. "Thank you" I smiled gripping his hand tight.
"It's all you" Adam shrugged stroking my hand with his thumb "You're amazing" I let out a nervous laugh and rolled my eyes not believing a word of it.
"Stop it" I pulled my hands from his grip and slapped his shoulder, he swiftly grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him flipping over him and on to my back "Shit" I mumbled as Adam lay next to me hovering over me, not unlike the night of our first kiss, I pushed his face away and sat up straight.
"That's what Jerry and Paul meant" Vince laughed loudly pointing at us as he made his way down the ramp making both me and Adam jump up "The fans will love this." I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration, this was not going to go down well at all with Beth.